"If there are any such, I don't want to know it—or see them," murmured Ruth, again shuddering. "Oh, I hope we don't go too far into the wilds."
"So do I," agreed her sister.
That afternoon, calling his company of players together, Mr. Pertell said:
"Friends, we will leave in two days for the interior. I want to get some views along the rivers and bayous, where the scenery is wilder than it is here."
"And where are we going, may I ask?" inquired Mr. DeVere.
"To a place called Sycamore, near Lake Kissimmee," was the answer.
"Oh, Ruth!" exclaimed Alice, impulsively, when she heard this.
"Yes, dear, what is it?"
"Why, that's where those two girls were from—the ones who were lost, you know!"
"Hush! Yes. You know we agreed to say nothing about it, for fear of causing undue alarm. Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon might refuse to go, you know," she went on in a low voice, "and that would make trouble for Mr. Pertell."